Combined road grader and drag.



J. W. WOOLERY.

COMBINED ROAD GRADER AND DRAG.

- APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15, $912.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

FLANOQRAPH .CUq WASH arn rare.

JOHN W. VJOOLERY, 0F OXFORD TOWNSHIP, JCHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS.

COMBINED ROAD GR-ADER- AND DRAG.

Application filed June 15, 1912.

T aj/l whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN lVOOLERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oxford township, in the county of Johnson and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Road Graders and Drags, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to road grading and dragging machines and has for its object to produce a machine by which a dirt road may be graded or dragged expeditiously and efliciently.

A. further object is to produce a machine for use in conjunction with the running gear of a wagon and which can be easily and quickly secured to or detached from the latter.

lVith these objects chiefly in view, the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fi ure 1, is a top plan view of a road grading machine applied in operative posi tion to the running gear of a wagon. Fig. 2, is a side view of the same. Fig. 3, is a 1 rear view.

In the said drawing 1 and 2 indicate spaced longitudinal side bars, one projecting farther forward than the other at what may be termed the front end, and at such end th bars are beveled in the same direction at such an angle that their beveled surfaces are alined, it being noted by reference to Fig. 3, that the side bar 1 depends to a lower plane than side bar 2, the plane of the lower edges of said bars preferably repre senting the pitch or inclination to be given to the surface of the road. Connecting the side bars are cross bars 3 and headed cross bolts 4, the latter being engaged at corresponding ends by nuts 5.

6 is an obliquely-extending bar fitting flatly against the beveled ends of bars 1 and 2 and projecting beyond the outer sides of said bars, and as a convenient means for pivotally securing the oblique bar 6 to bars 1 and 2, strap hinges 7 are employed, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1.

The bar 6 is arranged horizontally and its lower edge is preferably disposed in a plane above the lower edge of bar 2, as shown clearly in Fig. 8, and fastened in any suit- Spccification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 18, 1916. Serial No. 703,958.

able manner to the front side of bar 6, is a metal scraper blade 8, the cutting or lower edge of the same inclining from its front or left-hand end to its opposite end, from a horizontal plane preferably slightly lower than the lower edge of bar 1, to a plane slightly above the lower edge of bar 2, the plane of said lower or cutting edge of the blade corresponding to that occupied by the lower edges of bars 1 and 2, so that it shall impart to the surface of the road the pitch or inclination, shown by Fig. 3.

9 are inverted U-shaped brackets secured at their rear ends to bar 6 and overhanging said bar and scraper blade, and connected at its ends to said brackets, is a flexible draft connection or chain 10, for a purpose which is hereinafter explained.

11 is a. lever pivoted at 152 to bar 1, and

extending transversely over the bar 6, for a purpose which hereinafter appears, and attached to bar 2 near its rear end is a hook or loop 13.

W hen a road is to be graded, the scraper described is arranged with respect to the running gear of a wagon, as shown, 14 indicates the rear axle and 15 the reach bar connecting said axle with the front axle of the wagon, the lever 11 being arranged above the reach bar, and the hook or loop 13 in engagement with an eye 16 depending from the rear axle, this connection being to guard against material lateral or swaying movement of the scraper. The chain 10 is attached to a hook 17 depending from the tongue 18 of the running gear. As the wheeled vehicle is drawn along the left-hand side of a road, the wheels may run close to the bank and the blade 8 will embed itself in the ground and grade the same as indicated by the ground level in Fig. 3, the displaced earth being pushed forward and inward by reason of the obliquity of the blade, it being obvious that any depression of the surface of the road below the plane of the blade will be filled. It will also be noticed that because the lower edges of bars 1 and 2 lie substantially in the plane of the connecting edge of the blade, the tendencyof the scraper to tilt or rock is prevented, as

would occur if the lower edges of said bars occupied the same horizontal plane, it being obvious that any such rocking movement would probably result in the blade cutting to varying depths. When the machine has traveled the desired distance, the road is crossed and the return trip is made at the opposite sideof the road so as to give the surface of the same a reverse pitch orcinclination. If the road is narrow and the blade sufiiciently long, a trip up one side and down the other side of the road will complete the grading operation and leave a slight ridge at the apeX or crown in the center of the road to be leveled down slightly. If the road is wide it may require one or more additional trips upland down the road in order to eventually grade from both sides to thecenter of the road.

When traveling to and from the scene of operations the lever 11 is pressed downward so as to fulcrum on the reach bar 15,'and thus raise the cutting blade above the surface of the ground, in which position the lever can be held or tied in any suitable manher, and in the grading operation the lever can bemanipulated as explained for the purpose of clearing or avoiding contact with heavystones or other hard objects in the roadway, and also when passing over bridges.

To simply level or smooth the surface of a road, the device will be disconnected from the wagon gear and the bar 6 will be detached from bars 1 and 2. Chain 10 may then be connected with the headed ends of bolts 4: or with rings 19 loosely attached to said ends, a team of horses being then hitched to the chain for the purpose of pulling the drag, composed essentially of parts l, 2 and 3 over the ground, the bar 1 in this operation. constitutingthe front of Copies of this patent may be obtained for A road grader, comprising a pair of bars.

spaced apart, one projecting a greater distance forward and depending to a lower plane than the other and an obliquely-extending blade connecting the front ends of said bars and tapering upward at its lower or cutting edge from one end to the other;

said cutting edge occupying substantially the same inclined plane as the'lower edges of said bars in combination with a fourwheeled. vehicle overlying the grader, a flexible connection between the obliquely extending blade and the front end of the wheeled vehicle, and, a flexible connection between the rear axle of the wheeled vehicle and the inner bar of the pair forming the frame of the grader.

In testimony whereof I afl'ix my signature.

in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN w. wooLnnv Witnesses K. M. THORPE, G. Y. TEVIORPE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

